Deep sea writing: recent conversations with Lindsey Collen, writer and activist from Mauritius

Abstract

Oceans have occupied our imagination since time immemorial, both in symbolic and in practical ways. The Indian Ocean is a region characterized both by complex economic, historical, cultural, and social entanglements. Memories of recent and distant pasts plumb oceanic depths, needing to be carefully recollected and sieved to make sense of the present, and imagine possibilities for the future. The ocean is thus read as a site of contested struggles, a space where historical identities and stories interconnect. Storytelling is one device through which personal and collective memories can resurface and be questioned, as can be observed in the work of South African-born Mauritian writer and activist Lindsey Collen. This essay discusses Collen’s outlook on the Indian Ocean region, and on Mauritian literature and socio-political landscape. Building on previous work and research on Collen as a major activist and literary figure in Mauritius, this paper is based on a series of interviews and conversations with Collen and the two authors.

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